Japan, with its declining birthrate and aging population, must inevitably reduce the role of public pensions and seek a more prominent role for private pension plans. This report presents the recent developments in the reform of the defined contribution (DC) pension system in Japan. With...

On 4 August 2011 the Japanese Diet passed an amendment enabling company employees to contribute to corporate defined contribution pension plans. Until then only employers were able to contribute. As a result of the amendment, however, plan participants are able since January 2012 to make their...

Japan had over 3.21 million people enrolled in defined contribution (DC) plans as of end-March 2009. Although the plans are steadily gaining in popularity, there are still a number of issues that must be worked out. In this article, we propose some fundamental DC reforms, including making...

In Japan, the steady aging of the population dictates that whatever the outcome of the current debate on public pension reform, private pensions will become more important. Traditional defined benefit (DB) corporate pensions are unlikely to become more prevalent than they are today, however, due...

The Central Provident Fund (CPF), Singapore's public pension, is a prefunded, defined contribution pension plan. As average longevity increased, policy makers grew concerned over the fact that participants bear the burden from longevity risk, and a new program to annuitize a portion of CPF...